Airbus breakthrough: Japan Airlines orders 31 firm+25 option A350-900s/1000s

Airbus scored a big breakthrough October 7 (Tokyo time) when Japan Airlines announced an order for 18 A350-900s, 13 -1000s and options for 25 more. This is a huge win for Airbus and a big blow to Boeing’s… Read More

Odds and Ends: Flight test progress for A350, 787-9, CSeries; New A320, 737 cabins; JetBlue tails

Flight Test Programs: Here’s a quick update on the flight test programs underway right now: Airbus A350XWB: The sole flying test platform in the A350XWB program has accumulated  150 hours since its first flight just before the Paris… Read More

Odds and Ends: CSeries concludes second flight; Boeing’s impact on WA State

CSeries second flight: It was two weeks and one day to the second flight of the Bombardier CSeries, quite a bit longer than the Boeing 787-9 and the Airbus A350. The lengthier time was subject to a fair… Read More

Busy decade ahead for new, derivative airplane EIS dates

The next decade will see an extraordinary number of new and derivative airplanes entering service, beginning next year with the Boeing 787-9 and ending in 2022 with what we believe will be a replacement for the Airbus A330…. Read More

Lufthansa splits wide-body order between Airbus and Boeing

Lufthansa Airlines announced its long-expected wide-body order, for 59 Airbus A350-900s and Boeing 777-9Xs. Airbus won a firm order for 25 with options for 25 more. Boeing’s press release didn’t disclose options. This is a big win for… Read More

Busy Week ahead: First flights; and Odds and Ends:Lufthansa to split order; Embraer tells of upgrades

Update, 2:30PM PDT: Boeing confirms that Tuesday is the target day for 787-9 first flight, time TBD and subject to weather and other factors. Update, 3:30pm PDT: Bombardier says 9:30 EDT Monday is the scheduled first flight for… Read More

Odds and Ends: Slowing sales; Airbus in Japan; MRJ delay; Crandall on merger

Slowing Jet Sales: Within a few days, Bloomberg, Reuters and The Seattle Times each had stories about slowing jet sales. Here is the Bloomberg story, focusing on cargo sales. Here is the Reuters story. Here is The Seattle… Read More

Odds and Ends: MAKS summary; Airbus look; A350 launch aid; slow freighter sales

MAKS Air Show Summary: This account summarizes the orders placed at the Moscow Air Show, known as MAKS. It appears only Bombardier among Western OEMs made any commercial deals. Looking at Airbus: Aspire Aviation takes a long look… Read More

Odds and Ends: Lufthansa’s pending widebody order; MRJ v E-Jet E2; MAXimizing space

Lufthansa’s Pending Order: As we have written on previous occasions, Lufthansa Airlines has been preparing a large order for twin-aisle, twin-engine aircraft: 50 or more. We’d noted that the order was likely due in September. Aviation Week has… Read More

Odds and Ends: Boeing’s secret 777X plan; Airbus wins big with British Airways parent

Secret 777X Plan: The Seattle Times reports that Boeing has some secret planning underway for assembly options for the 777X. This involves increasing the automation on the assembly (and thereby reducing manpower) and increasing the production rate to… Read More